As for Mikes change of heart, I think between the Germans trying to kill him and the Police being hot on his trail, maybe he's just in "Fuck it" mode at this point.

I dont agree he is in "throw away everything" mode because he is, out of all people, knows his next 10 steps while others barely know 2 or 3. Mike realizes that he got nothing left for his grand daughter for something he worked so hard for (10 year he works for Gus). So technically as much as he want to eliminate Walt (which he planed to do in end of season 3) he cant do so now because he need a cook and a possible "legit" coverup such as a food chain or a "car wash" and the money to guarantee future for his family as well.

Mike understands that he must keep Jessy and Walt as an unknown unity in the eyes of the Germans, at any cost. As we all know that Germans are good in technology and chemistry and it would take a few smart German scientists to figure out the formula and then Mike knows he wont be needed anymore which would result in his, Walt's and Jessy's deaths. So technically now Mike's investments are Walt and Jessy. More Jessy than Walt because he is a ticking bomb ready to explode. Overall Mike is really at a position of making a lot of serious future changing decisions. Like we seen with Lydia and the methylamine.

As for Mikes change of heart, I think between the Germans trying to kill him and the Police being hot on his trail, maybe he's just in "Fuck it" mode at this point.

I dont agree he is in "throw away everything" mode because he is, out of all people, knows his next 10 steps while others barely know 2 or 3. Mike realizes that he got nothing left for his grand daughter for something he worked so hard for (10 year he works for Gus). So technically as much as he want to eliminate Walt (which he planed to do in end of season 3) he cant do so now because he need a cook and a possible "legit" coverup such as a food chain or a "car wash" and the money to guarantee future for his family as well.

Mike understands that he must keep Jessy and Walt as an unknown unity in the eyes of the Germans, at any cost. As we all know that Germans are good in technology and chemistry and it would take a few smart German scientists to figure out the formula and then Mike knows he wont be needed anymore which would result in his, Walt's and Jessy's deaths. So technically now Mike's investments are Walt and Jessy. More Jessy than Walt because he is a ticking bomb ready to explode. Overall Mike is really at a position of making a lot of serious future changing decisions. Like we seen with Lydia and the methylamine.

Yeah, I'll agree with all of that pretty much. At the time of my prior post it seemed to have slipped my mind that all that cash Mike once had has now essentially been seized by the DEA. Easy to see why he passed on joining Walt and Jesse when he thought he still had that money. He's obviously very cautious and worried that Walt is gonna fuck everything up and I think it showed in the previews for the next episode. It looked as though Mike was taking initiative to keep things more under his control and reduce Walt back to being just a cook as opposed to the kind of cocky, unpredictable leader type he's appeared to be since orchestrating Gustavo's murder.

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Sokaris wrote:

I love this board but I'm fucking tired of everyone ejaculating every time someone puts a tree on an album cover.

In addition to that, if anyone noticed - when Hank is asked about the laptop. He said it was all encrypted and he didnt see squat and would take days to figure out. I think he is lying, he saw something on the laptop that would be shown to us later on which would be a nerve wrecking story line.

This last episode solidified Walt being evil and corrupt. He implied to Jesse that Mike needs to go. He can't be happy with the money they're making now but Jesse's perfectly happy with it. Walt has no qualms about manipulating every person he knows. It's kind of sad to see him go from having friends and family to what he is now.

I don't think Walt suggests Jessy need to go - by referring to Victor Walt want to remind that people who try to do something outside of their "job" description would face the consequences sooner or later. Walt doesnt like Mike's "accounting" decisions which is clearly outside of his job description according to Walt, in reality making a 50 pound batch cashes in 100,000 grand for each (even if you cook only one batch a week - you are looking at 5.2 mil a year, which is more than enough). If i remember correctly Gus promised Walt 15 Mil a year ( or 21) if so then of course Walt feels cheated. In addition to that the Methylamine is going to cost them from now on - so we are looking at even lower income. But everyone is going to stay alive and drama free.

Mike knows that he need to pay out his people because they would rat him out sooner or later - and they dont know who Walt is, technically he is safe. The reason Walt doesnt trust Mike is because of the past they had together. I do think that as of now Mike is being overly cautious and reasonable considering they are doing the whole operation almost from scratch. I do agree that Walt is turning into a very dangerous blind horse.

Yeah, this past episode was fucking great. Walt has gone full blown gangster at this point and has no fear or concern for his life or the lives of those he knows. Saul, his wife, and now, jesse, all seem to fear Walt and what may be coming. In fact, I think its safe to say that Walter White is already dead, for all intents and purposes. There is no trace left whatsoever of the average, caring, compassionate man he was to start this series and the previews of the next episode alone completely confirm this with him shaving his head and bringing the hat back out. He has actually become the "Heisenberg" character he devised for himself - a hardened, cold, calculating drug dealing killer.

I find it amazing that he seemed so calm talking about Victor's death and hinting that perhaps the same kind of fate might be in store for Mike. Despite knowing how deadly and effective Mike is, it appears Walt has reached the point where he thinks he can outsmart anyone and everyone. I've never seen him have the kind of body language he had when arguing with Mike over the money. He looked very domineering and assertive, in essence, like a boss. Furthermore, assuming he can figure out the distribution and obtaining Methylamine part, it makes complete sense for Walt to eliminate Mike. He's basically just a loose end that needs tying up.

I also think its safe to say that this episode foreshadows that Walt will go down in some kind of hail of gun fire. The fact that he was watching the end of Scarface with such glee is an obvious indicator, but if you notice, when he's watching The Three Stooges(I think?) with Jesse after the cook there's also rapid gunfire in the scene as well.

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Sokaris wrote:

I love this board but I'm fucking tired of everyone ejaculating every time someone puts a tree on an album cover.

I think Hank finds out that Walt is/was Heisenberg and feels so let down he spends about 3 episodes deciding what the hell to do about it, with the series culminating with Mike trying to take out Walt while Hank shows up to arrest Walt and winds up in a gun fight with Mike.

_________________Your god is not dead, for you cannot kill what never existed.

I wonder what Walt plans to do with that snazzy machine gun? Random, unbiased mass carnage? Cleaning out a rival meth lab? Deleting a few unwieldy henchmen? Who knows. I'm having fun knowing that the apocalypse looms on the horizon.

Oh one last thing, someone needs to kill off Ted and Skylar. A bit sick of that weak dynamic. That two bit tax cheat and no good trollop both need to be executed.

I think Skyler is at that hopeless point when she doesnt know what to do and I personally see the parallel with Jessy, when he wanted nothing to do with Walt and he didnt know what to do. She is at the early stages of a struggle, where to run with the kids rather than stand your ground and protect them. I'm actually interested how Skyler would develop by the end. Because we some what know what Jessy is about by now and what Walt is about, Mike, Hank (Marie isnt changing thats for sure)

I think it was an interesting point when Walt said that a man who wanted to kill him gave him a present for his Bday. He hints that no matter what Skyler would come to her reasons to accept Walt sooner or later if she wants it or not.

From the snippet about Episode 5 - they clearly thinking forward into, not just getting one barrel of meth but getting a full truckload of meth.

I do feel that Lydia is going to be a problem by the end of the season and maybe Skyler would be the one to take care of her which would transform her into the wife's kingpin. Because Lydia is the weakest link but she is the one with the connections so I think as soon as Walt and Mike get what they need as far as connections, she is done.

EDIT: And might I just add that Lydia's German in this episode was fucking atrocious. Sure, this isn't real criticism, just a personal irritant, no point in having impeccable foreign accents all the time, but when she chipped in on that teleconference it was like nails on a chalkboard.

EDIT: And might I just add that Lydia's German in this episode was fucking atrocious. Sure, this isn't real criticism, just a personal irritant, no point in having impeccable foreign accents all the time, but when she chipped in on that teleconference it was like nails on a chalkboard.

Isn't she meant to be sort of the clumsy criminal in this whole thing though? I can see her speaking broken German as fitting her character.

But if Gus spoke bad Spanish, that would totally be wrong.

It's interesting how polarizing Skyler is as a character. People either seem to love her or hate her. I like her cause she adds conflict with Walt.

Yeah, I don't have any problem with Skyler. Her element in the story isn't my absolute favorite, but she adds a very realistic and believable (and in a way almost necessary) dynamic to the plot and the fabric of the tale.

Skyler's character is a complete moral paradox. On one hand, she views Walt as this huge, evil monster for cooking meth and killing to protect his family and assets. On the other hand, she thought Ted was a hero for committing fraud and stealing from his own company, one of the reasons why she started boning him. The amount of hypocrisy and bullshit within her character makes me wish every week that they'd kill off her dumb ass in the most brutal way imaginable. Goddamn she's stupid, and the whole faux-suicide is more fuel for the fire.

Notice how she didn't say she'd stop laundering Walt's drug money? But Walt is evil for cooking meth, but she's not for enabling him. Makes total sense.

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Ismetal wrote:

GuntherTheUndying IS THE GAY NUMBER 1, HE DOESNT LIKE TO READ THE TRUTH, SO I THINK THIS PAGE IS FOR GAYS WHO WANTS TO READ MESSAGES LIKE "I LOVE MY BAND", "THEY ARE MY LOVE"

I know it wasn't a bad episode, but I couldn't help but still feel a little disappointed with it. After the way it was going, I thought for sure we were in for some fireworks, and it was more of a dud, another "pacing" episode. I realize they're necessary and I enjoy them all the same, but damn it, I want blood shed!

No, but seriously, it did further the story line in a good way, I thought. I think we got to see Skylar finally do something drastic(well, sort of) that attests to her fragile, traumatized state of mind and perhaps more than that, we saw Walt be harder with her than he's ever been before. I thought it was really eye opening to hear him put her in her place in the way he did. He had no remorse whatsoever for her and made sure to let her know that there's nothing she can do to stop him from having things the way he wants.

Furthermore, it will be pretty surprising if Hank doesn't start putting the pieces together and figure out that Walt is Heisenberg. I'm sure it will take him a couple of episodes to digest it, accept it, etc but with Walt buying those two flashy cars he's essentially going the direction of a Tuco, a drug dealer that's too "loud" to stay around long. He seems to have something of the smarts and hardness of Gus, but a kind of childlike, reactionary innocence like that of Tuco or lets even say, Tony Montana! Walt basically never "lived" before he found out he had cancer(again, like Tony in Scarface pre-immigration) and he's realized it more and more as the series has progressed. His cunning success has given him a high like that of a meth user themselves: he never wants to come down. He can't go back to "normal" life, he wants luxury, reputation, recognition...things that come with time and under a very "quiet" cloak for a big time drug dealer (i.e Gus). Another sort of allegory/parallel that could be drawn thinking back to when Walt would sit by his pool and light matches...his career as a rising drug dealer is quite like the initial striking of a match - it burns bright, but not for very long.

Mike probably put it best when he said that just because you kill Jesse James, doesn't make you Jesse James. Or something like that.

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Sokaris wrote:

I love this board but I'm fucking tired of everyone ejaculating every time someone puts a tree on an album cover.

But I think in a sense by the end of this season Walt might realize that its better to stay at this stage and not thrive for Gus's "stardom", but I dont think it would happen unless something bad happens to Walt's family. In this case its better to stay the middle man as Jessy mentioned that we only cooked 50 pounds but the money we got is greater than when we cooked 200 pounds for Gus. I think Mike is doing a great Job separating z Germans from Walt/Jessy, but not for long because Walt/Jessy are pushing.

Skyler is annoying because she is real - and a note to GuntherTheUndying, she didnt bang Ted because he was cooking his books, she knew about it much later when shit hit the fan. She saw the signs here and there but didnt think of it much and she did need a man when Walt was all falling apart and was a wirdo walking naked in a supermarket (I think a parallel to her going down the pool)

Its quite interesting how Walt treats Jr. gives him the car as a reward and when he wants explanations to whats going on he just tells him off. Quite interesting to see Walt change toward his family using drug dealer techniques.

I didn't say she was banging him because she was cooking his books. She was banging him because she thought he was noble for stealing money and giving it to his family. She admired him for doing so, which is why she later found his accounts to skewed, which is why she cooked them for him (because she thought he was noble), which is why she gave him $600,000 to eliminate the involvement of both of their activities so the IRS wouldn't investigate Ted and eventually find Skyler's illegal shit as well, because at that point, she was already too deep to turn back.

Skyler loved Ted for being a thief, and that's why she started boning him.

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Ismetal wrote:

GuntherTheUndying IS THE GAY NUMBER 1, HE DOESNT LIKE TO READ THE TRUTH, SO I THINK THIS PAGE IS FOR GAYS WHO WANTS TO READ MESSAGES LIKE "I LOVE MY BAND", "THEY ARE MY LOVE"

EDIT: And might I just add that Lydia's German in this episode was fucking atrocious. Sure, this isn't real criticism, just a personal irritant, no point in having impeccable foreign accents all the time, but when she chipped in on that teleconference it was like nails on a chalkboard.

Isn't she meant to be sort of the clumsy criminal in this whole thing though? I can see her speaking broken German as fitting her character.

I don't know what being the weak link in the criminal chain would have to do with it, but since the character's mother tongue seems to be Spanish, this might be excusable in-universe too. Although being a medium/high-level employee at a German company who's implied to routinely converse in the language you'd still expect her accent to be less thick and more intelligible. Trust me, the first time I saw it, I understood only about a third of what she said. At most. By the way, it wasn't broken, i.e. some ungrammatical mumbo-jumbo, just horribly pronounced.

Some useless trivia: IIRC, the only character meant to be a native speaker without a noticeable accent so far was the German detective inspector knocking on the bathroom door. The CEO (?) of Madrigal would also qualify, as he is a well-known German voice actor, but he only speaks English.

But hey, I don't want to drag this out any longer. I'm just sensitive when it comes to German in English-language media.

I didn't say she was banging him because she was cooking his books. She was banging him because she thought he was noble for stealing money and giving it to his family.

She fucked Ted because of her anger towards Walt and the web of lies and deception he had spun. And I think when Walt forced himself back into the house, that pushed her over the edge. That's really the main thing.

People either seem to love her or hate her. I like her cause she adds conflict with Walt.

People love her? I've never even met anyone who so much as feels lukewarm about her. EVERYone hates her immensely, and i think they're right. She sucks. And so far as adding conflict with Walt? It just gets tedious. The show is a hyper/melodrama - Jessie & Walt have barely been able to have a conversation that isn't an argument on the verge of turning into a fist fight fight for 4 fucking seasons, he's battling with conflict with a million other aspects of his life and business, why THE FUCK would we need anymore conflict coming from is snippy, clownfaced, hypocritical wife? Or idiot son? It's exhausting. Seriously you're the first person that's said anything positive about her in the several years i've been watching the show.

_________________Razorwyre:promo track track from 'Another Dimension' LP"The best speed metal album of the year"